This tutorial is only to help iPad2 3G owners who up to this point cannot restore a 4.x firmware using saved blobs.

WARNING: CDMA (Verizon) iPad2 3G owners should NOT use this tool. Due to the way carriers activate those devices, they will fail to activate if you downgrade to 4.3.3. This tutorial is for 3G GSM owners only (iPad2 devices which accept a Micro SIM)

Windows users must have an up to date Java installation. If you are running 64bit Windows you should probably also use a 64Bit JVM. The tutorial has been proven to work on Windows7 64 using 64Bit JVM Version 7 Update 2.
You will also need to add an environment variable to the system as follows:

Open the Advance tab on System Properties from the control panel and choose the "Environment Variables" button...

Create a new System Variable called "_JAVA_OPTIONS" and give it a value of "-Xmx1g"...

OSX users must rename the JAR file they download to "tinycfw.jar", otherwise it will not work.

Now we are ready to use the tool!

1. Launch the exe file on Windows or the JAR file on OSX. You will be presented with as screen like this, and the first action is to press "Choose Current IPSW" where you will be presented with a file selection dialogue box...

2. Navigate to the 4.3.3 firmware file you have downloaded, and select it...

3. TinyCFW will now analyse the IPSW file and inform you about the custom firmware file it will build...

The custom firmware file will contain firmware 4.3.3 and the latest baseband which Apple is currently signing (04.11.08 at the time of writing this guide).

4. Now press "Save Target IPSW" and the tool will create you the custom firmware file required for your iPad2 3G.

Once completed you should have a file named "iPad2,2_4.3.3_8J2_Restore.bbupdate.ipsw" in the same location as your original firmware.

5. To restore the firmware on your iPad2, you must use TinyUmbrella to serve up your 4.3.3 blobs. Remember, without these it will not work, and if you don't have them already, you are out of luck. Sorry

6. Put your iPad2 into DFU mode
In order to put your device into DFU mode, with the iPad connected to your computer and turned on, you must press the "home" and "power" buttons together for EXACTLY 10 seconds at which point you must release "power" but continue to hold "home". After about 15 seconds, the device will enter DFU mode.

Once your device is in DFU mode the screen should be blank. If anything else is showing on the screen, such as the "connect to iTunes" or "Apple" logo, you got it wrong. You must get the device into DFU mode successfully. Try again

7. Restore in iTunes
Finally, you are ready to restore your device using the custom firmware you created earlier.

Open iTunes and it should report that it has discovered a device in recovery mode and must restore it. Good! That's exactly what we want. Click the OK button to dismiss the dialogue box.

Now you must Shift-Restore (Windows) or Option-Restore (OSX) to select the custom firmware you created. This means you must hold down the shift key (on Windows) or the option key (on OSX) on your keyboard whilst clicking the "Restore" button in iTunes with your mouse. If you do this correctly, an Explorer or Finder window will pop up and allow you to navigate to the firmware file. Find the file and choose it for the restore.

Done! iTunes should now restore your firmware file on your iPad2 without any errors.

Note: The custom firmware you create with this tutorial will work only whilst Apple is signing the baseband version which TinyCFW slipstreamed into the custom firmware. So, whenever Apple release a new baseband for iPad2 you will need to build a new custom 4.3.3 firmware, otherwise it will not install on your iPad2 3G

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iPF Novice

hi op, thanks for this tool,did all the stages up to #4 but now im stuck on "4. Now press "Save Target IPSW" and the tool will create you the custom firmware file required for your iPad2 3G." for 5 minuets now, tried to reboot the computer, and again, got stuck on the same stage. any help please

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iPF Noob

hi op, thanks for this tool,did all the stages up to #4 but now im stuck on "4. Now press "Save Target IPSW" and the tool will create you the custom firmware file required for your iPad2 3G." for 5 minuets now, tried to reboot the computer, and again, got stuck on the same stage. any help please

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